Page 38 - History of War - Issue 30-16

SOMME
1916 2016
The 7th would be placed at the forefront
of the attack on the village of Thiepval and a “This minor operation came under very
mighty defensive fortii cation called Schwaben
e
Redoubt, known as the ‘Pope’s nose’. It was heavy machine-gun and ril re. Second
their task to storm these positions and wrestle
it from German hands. This was no easy task, Lieutenant Adlam, realising that time was
seeing as the redoubt was fortii ed with well
dug trench systems, complex tangles of barbed all-important, rushed from shell-hole to
wire and multiple machine-gun nests. The 36th

Ulster and 49th West Yorkshire Divisions had shell-hole under heavy re, collecting men
both failed to secure this position during the
initial stages of the battle and now it fell to for a sudden rush, and for this purpose
Adlam’s unit to make yet another attempt. If
this position could be taken it would dominate also collected many enemy grenades.”
the German frontline from North to South in the
surrounding area. An extract of his Victoria Cross citation found in the London Gazette,
The morning of the 26 September, Adlam
led his men towards the front lines through dated 25 November 1916
harassing German artillery i re, with British
guns answering in kind. Once in position,
battalion ofi cers formed a plan of attack can’t go forward.’ I said, ‘Well, I think I can!’ would later rel ect that the Germans must have
and a night assault on the village of Theipval He shook hands with me solemnly and said been rather unnerved after seeing their own
was decided. This attack was instigated to ‘Goodbye, old man!’. I said, ‘Don’t be such a explosives raining down on them.
straighten up the British line, with C and D damn fool, I’ll get back alright, I’m quite sure I Freshly supplied, the 7th Bedford rushed
companies creeping forward in the predawn can get back.’” through the trench l ushing out any Germans
gloom. Visibility was abysmal and the men soon Worry didn’t seem to enter Adlam’s mind they found. The machine-gun position proved a
became lost in the darkness. As Adlam and C as he gathered men for the assault. Utilising stauncher obstacle and, with bullets whizzing
Company neared their positions the advantage his training he instructed each man to pull the over his head, Adlam subjected the nest to
had led, as morning light started to creep over pin on his grenade, run two or three yards and unrelenting barrage of explosives. With the
the village. With attack orders still standing hurl the explosive at the German trench. This position neutralised the Germans began falling
C Company charged into the fray and almost opening salvo created a break in the German back. Seeing the enemy wavering, the British
immediately found themselves pinned down in lines that the British then rushed into. Initially, soldiers gave a great shout and as one charged
shell holes, with machine-gun i re rattling over each man carried two Mills bombs, but after through the remaining trench system, routing
their heads. these were exhausted Adlam, had the men the Germans completely. Tom Adlam, wounded
At this point in the line the British were only gather up German explosives, which were lying in the leg during combat, and his handful of
100 yards from the German trenches. Seizing around by the bag full in the trench. Adlam men had taken a heavily defended objective
the initiative, Adlam began dashing around had observed German grenades being thrown that had already repulsed several attempts.
the battleield, gathering men together for an at British troops usually had a delay of two to
Below: The Mills bomb was the i rst modern
assault. He gave an account of the engagement three seconds before exploding, somewhat
fragmentation grenade used by the British Army
in an interview for the Imperial War Museum, reducing their effectiveness. After carrying out
“I thought, ‘We’ve got to get this trench a rather dangerous experiment, Adlam found
somehow…’ So I went crawling along from shell holding the grenade for a longer
hole to shell hole, ’til I came to the oficer in period of time before throwing it
charge of the next platoon. He said ‘I’m going reduced the delay and resulted
to wait until it gets dark then crawl back, we in a more effective blast. He

German prisoners are
escorted to the British
lines during the battle

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